Faculty Senate Approved 3/12/03, as a pilot through the 2003-04 academic year

Document #02-07

3/10/2003

Strategic Budgeting and Budget-Building at the University of
Wisconsin – Green Bay

Strategic Budget Planning Group
[1]

Preface

This paper proposes, for purposes of discussion, a set of principles to guide
and expedite the process of developing a strategic budgeting and budget-building
process suited to our university.

At this stage, UWGB does not currently have a full-fledged strategic
budgeting and budget-building process. We do, however, have resources to draw
on. We have had almost a year of discussion that included meetings with our
Office of Planning and Budget, the University Committee, the Academic Staff
Committee, Cabinet, the Leadership Team, and the Senate Planning and Budgeting
Committee; research on processes used at other universities; a "site
visit" to another UW campus; what we have learned, sometimes painfully, in
implementing budgeting/planning processes at multiple campuses; and review of
current practices.

It has been our experience that discussion of planning processes eventually
reach a point of rapidly diminishing return. We could talk for years, seeking to
dot every "i" and cross every "t," and still not get it
right. We reach a point where progress can be more quickly made by
"doing" and learning from that "doing," trusting in our
abilities as sensible human beings to critically examine and regularly adjust
practices. Thus we are suggesting that we implement the budget planning
and budget-building structure outlined here immediately and alter it as we need
to in the coming years. If we approach the budgeting process with an attitude of
openness, integrity, collegiality, and responsiveness to campus needs, and if we
make sure to include critical "feedback" loops, we’ll get better and
improve the process as we go.

That is how we’d like to begin, by adopting a process that builds on what
we’ve learned and what we’ve heard, and allowing for process improvements
over the years. We can be certain that what we agree to for this year will
different from what we do in subsequent years. A key phase of any planning
process is to analyze results of plans in order to regularly adjust and improve.
That principle applies just as well to the very process of planning itself.

One final observation by way of preface. UW-Green Bay’s planning and
budget-building processes needed attention and nurturing. Unfortunately, we are
pursuing that objective in less than favorable circumstances. Large State budget
deficits loom. The University will be affected. In such circumstances, anxieties
understandably abound. The complications are two-fold. First, anxiety, fear, and
frustration -- even anger -- can interfere with thoughtful, analytical,
collegial discussion of what is best for the whole. Second, it may be that
processes for routine strategic budgeting and budget-building will not always be
suited to addressing situations that are extraordinary – for example, that
require more rapid responses or that are driven by external forces. So, the
circumstances for "bringing up" new procedures are not ideal. And yet,
forging this process now in the worse case scenario may indeed be useful and
productive. By going ahead now, we will know that this process that we are
creating will have survived trial by fire and that the structure will work in
good times and bad times. We need to acknowledge and be prepared to deal with
these potential additional complications. But, we should not and cannot
postpone. Arguably, it is precisely at times such as we are entering that we
need to emphasize the integration of short-term budgetary decisions with
longer-term strategic directions.

I. What is Strategic Budgeting and Budget-Building?

Any budget says what fiscal resources we plan to have and how we plan to use
them. A strategic budget, however, is much more deliberate than that. It is an
aspect and form of strategic planning. It is driven, at its core, by
imagination, even passion, and a desire for change. It looks at desired changes
and improvement efforts, determines what resources we have to work with, and
figures out how we can deliberately direct some of those resources to allow the
change to move forward. It looks at how we can use the resources we have to
create incentives to create changes and improvements we want. It seeks ways to
mobilize people to work together in support of agreed-upon goals. It is not just
"business as usual."

When people say "budget," they usually mean operational budget,
not strategic budget. True, an operational budget allocates resources
across the organization as well, but an operational budget may be just
"business as usual." Examples: an operational budget may dole out
budget increases or budget reductions across-the-board, with no specific
priorities or vision for change or improvement. An operational budget may be
based on simple, factual calculations (e.g., increasing S&E by a certain
rate of inflation), with no value judgments being made about which areas of
S&E expenditures are more valuable to the institution. An operational budget
can be built to reflect known changes in current operations (e.g., who will
receive salary increases due to promotions), with no effort to deliberately
create change (e.g., increased funding for professional development so that
current personnel can achieve new things). An operational budget may give little
incentive for accomplishing changes we need or desire.

At its simplest level, "strategic budgeting" integrates the
budgeting/resource-allocation (i.e., budget-building) process with strategic
planning. Budgeting is a usually short-term, an annual or biennial process of
tactical decisions about short-term resource allocations. Strategic planning, on
the other hand, is a broader process of deciding how we will pursue our mission
and our vision. While budget deals with dollars and cents, planning taps into
our values, our wishes, our relationships, and our goals, our sense of what is
meaningful, how we want to conduct our work, and what is possible. Planning and
budgeting are integrally connected, but they are also different endeavors.
Planning is a broader topic that we’ll address in a working draft on that
topic. Just bear in mind that this paper deals only with budget-planning and
budget-building, not with all of the other aspects of a comprehensive planning
process that we will, in time, consider.

Finally, we must mention one other observation. We have noticed that one
problem with UW-Green Bay’s budget process has NOT been that we have too FEW
strategic plans. Rather the issue has been that we have had too MANY
plans. File drawers are full of plans in a variety of areas, compiled by
dedicated and talented groups. Subjects include program plans, gender equity,
internationalization, diversity, facilities, general education, marketing, child
care, growth plans, etc… And, while all efforts seek important ends, resource
limitations require that priorities be set and that choices be made. If that is
not done, then plans tend just to sit in those file cabinets. A strategic
budgeting and budget-building process does so in ways that are explicit,
visible, and collegial. Here, the role of the Strategic Budgeting and
Budget-Building Committee is not to judge these other plans (no "thumbs
up" or "thumbs down"); rather, their role is informational, to
make sure that these multiple plans are considered by planning units and at the
university level as the strategic budgeting process unfolds.

Hence, this strategic budgeting and budget-building process integrates
planning within the existing budget-building structure. It creates room in
governance and administration for change. This proposal takes our existing
interest in planning and our planning methods and formalizes them. Such a
process will be not only more transparent but also will allow for planning ideas
to become campus realities in a context that is informed by the wider campus
community. Thus planning will be linked across departments, units, and all
offices.

In this paper, we’re concentrating on strategic budgeting and
budget-building per se. Strategic budgeting and budget-building can be used to
develop an annual budget for the campus, but it also seeks much more:

· to foster communication.

· to precipitate dialogue.

· to assure openness.

· to encourage engagement.

· to increase the levels of information and knowledge upon which
decisions are based.

· to assure routine and systematic analysis of results so that we can
regularly improve our attainment of the ends we care most about as a
university – our mission.

Strategic budgeting is a community and constituency building process. It
involves the opportunity for the inclusion of voices from the University's
multiple constituencies. Strategic budgeting emphasizes the generation and
preservation of assets as strategic investments. Its purpose is to develop
and utilize measures of outcomes to guide decision making. Furthermore,
strategic budgeting will help to clarify how each unit adds to and consumes
shared resources, and contributes to the collective work necessary for
achieving agreed upon missions and goals. Finally, a strategic approach to
budgeting will provide incentives for: 1) generating resources and, 2)
contributing to collaborative efforts (e.g., University Studies,
Environmental Studies, interdisciplinary research, etc.). This approach
emphasizes budgeting as an open process with full disclosure of information,
assumptions, objectives, and criteria.[2]

The aspirations, then, are ambitious. We might not get it right the
first time. Better institutional decision-making will be one result of our
initial efforts. As important, though, is becoming a better institution, one
where we value the full and meaningful engagement of all who are the University
of Wisconsin – Green Bay.

II. Strategic Budgeting and Budget-Building Principles

We propose, as a first draft, several principles as guides
for UWGB’s process of strategic budgeting and budget-building. The list is
not, at this stage, in priority order. Nor is it complete. We are certain that
colleagues will bring to our attention critical considerations that we have
overlooked. Still, here is a start:

1. Bottom-Up Engagement and Empowerment

We are a community rich in our expertise, innovative thinking, and high
aspirations. Effective engagement of this important strength occurs early in
the strategic budgeting and budget-building process rather than merely at
the end. The budget planning process must start at the operational units
(departments and offices). To the extent possible, it will use existing
committees and governance structures to keep the university community fully
informed and engaged, and to ensure the wide range of input needed for wise
decision-making.

2. Inclusive Involvement

The strategic budgeting and budget-building process allows for effective
involvement of faculty, staff, students, classified colleagues as well as
external members of the UWGB community. It encourages and enables members of
different groups to see "the big picture," to learn about other
units, and to become involved on behalf of the whole university, not just
their own assigned unit.

3. Transparency

The strategic budgeting and budget-building process is open and
informative. People have access to budget, expenditure, and operational
information. They are able to get information about the budgetary
constraints, requirements, pressures, resources, and opportunities. They
know who is responsible for making budgetary decisions, when, and by what
processes they can have input. "Products" are made widely
available. In short, members of the campus community know what is happening,
when, and why.

4. Sensitivity

The process also is sensitive to and respectful of the worth and dignity
of every individual, office, and program. This is especially important in
tough budget times. Those involved in the budgeting process may have no
choice but to look at possible reductions, alternatives, or changes. They
have to be able to look at various "what if" scenarios--almost all
of which will be found, upon reflection, not to be desirable or necessary.
Yet, the mere discussion of such action can be very costly in terms of
students’ and employees’ morale and confidence, sometimes producing a
self-fulfilling prophecy. Somehow, we must protect our students, employees,
and programs from this.

This can best be accomplished by protecting the confidentiality of such
occasionally necessary deliberations and then arriving at decisions –
which are public and open – in a timely manner. Thus, even as we strive
toward openness as indicated in #4 above, we are also sensitive to the human
implications of budgetary discussions, and we strive to achieve a delicate
balance between these two important principles.

5. Governance Primacy

At UWGB, we have separate governance entities for faculty, academic
staff, and students. We also have classified staff and administrators who,
while they do not have a distinctive governance structure, are nonetheless
vital members of our institution. All of those constituencies need to be
involved in the strategic budgeting and budget-building process. Insofar as
possible, we will build on, utilize, and include our existing governance
entities.

6. Integration

All units and levels of the University are interconnected. The strategic
budgeting and budget-building process recognizes these interconnections and
incorporates them into the process. Vertically, the process integrates
university-level and unit-level strategic directions. Horizontally, the
process recognizes and takes into consideration the interrelations across
programs, departments, and divisions, and the ways in which changes in one
unit will impact on others.

7. Information-Based Thinking

The process is informed by and based on accurate, objective information
and normative data. This needs to include ongoing assessments of both the
internal environment/operations and the external environment. Common beliefs
and assumptions need be reviewed against actual data and information—i.e.,
given a "reality check"—rather than taken for granted. Standard
measures need to be available, and information needs to be shared both
within and across units. In this manner, members of the university community
will have the larger institutional context within which to interpret their
own individual experiences and needs, and the solutions that emerge will be
informed, realistic, accurate, and fair to the University community.

8. Responsiveness to Differences; No "One Size Fits All"

The University is a complex and dynamic organization. One planning unit
will differ from the next, and one planning year will differ from the next.
The University will have some areas of greater complexity and change and
other areas of greater predictability and stability. Planning units will
have wide guidelines (within these principles) to adopt strategic budgeting
processes best suited to their particular circumstances. Likewise, the
planning and budgeting processes will evolve and improve over time as we
learn and as we adapt to future challenges, influences, and opportunities.

9. Initial Simplicity

We can imagine a full-fledged planning and budgeting process that is very
elaborate and thorough. After several UWGB faculty, staff, and
administrators visited a campus where such a system is being implemented,
however, we all agreed that such an investment of time and effort was not
appropriate to our context. We have opted, instead, to start with a more
minimal process. With time, we can decide what might be added and, perhaps
even, what can be deleted.

These principles will help us begin the strategic budgeting and
budget-building process. Clearly, this is not a "one shot" effort. The
process will improve over the years. As it becomes more routine, we would expect
it to link, easily and naturally, to other institutional processes such as
planning, development, assessment, and evaluation. But, as our process evolves,
we hope the principles outlined in this section will help keep us "on
track" in developing a process that is informative, meaningful, realistic,
and wise.

III. Strategic Budgeting and Budget-Building Process

The strategic budgeting and budget-building process will
span across all divisions of the University, all organizational levels, and all
governance entities. It will be comprised of both "strategic budgeting
entities" and "strategic budgeting steps." Both are outlined in
this section.

Strategic Budgeting Entities

1. Budget Planning and Budget-Building Stakeholders

At the campus level, each major budget division will be considered a separate
planning stakeholder. These stakeholders will be responsible for submitting
balanced budget models and unit plans to be considered by the Strategic
Budgeting Committee and the Chancellor’s Cabinet. These stakeholders
include, at a minimum, the following:

·
Academic Affairs, including, as distinct planning stakeholders:

o Liberal Arts and Sciences

o Professional and Graduate Studies

o Information Services

o Student Affairs (including Residential Life)

o Outreach and Extension

· Business and Finance (including Facilities), including:

o Weidner Center

o Union

· Advancement

· Athletics

· SUFAC

These are the major budget divisions and stakeholders at the university
level. Within a particular budget division, however, there may be additional
planning units that participate in the division’s planning process. In
Liberal Arts and Sciences and in Professional and Graduate Studies, for
instance, it is expected that each interdisciplinary budget unit will actively
participate in the planning activities of the respective academic division.
This is where the "bottom up" approach to planning and input into
the planning process is ensured.

Thus, each budget division may decide to further organize into constituent
budget-planning units. That will be the decision of the division involved.
Further, there is no assumption that the exact same processes for "bottom
up" budget-planning will apply to every division. Indeed, just the
opposite. The process for involving those in Liberal Arts and Sciences may be
quite differ from the process which SGA, Weidner Center, or Athletics decides
best suitsits purposes.

There also may be additional entities that cut across these budget planning
stakeholders Each. Nothing precludes such additional bodies from becoming
involved in formulating plans and proposals to be considered through the
strategic budgeting and budget-building process. Possible examples might be
initiatives contemplated by the Women’s Equality Council, the Campus or
Community Diversity Councils, or the General Education Council as just a few
examples.

2. Governance

Three of our major existing governance entities (faculty, academic staff,
students) would have a senior leader designated to serve on the UWGB Strategic
Budgeting and Budget-Building Committee (more on that follows). These
individuals would be responsible for keeping their constituencies informed and
for providing their constituencies opportunities for input into the strategic
budgeting and budget-building process, particularly at the initial stages of
the process. There is no a priori reason why each of the governance
entities needs to decide upon the same type or degree of involvement; that
would be up to each respective governance group.

3. Line Administrators

Line administrators [3] play several critical
roles. First, they assure a process that complies with the policies of the
division and the university. Second, after weighing advice, counsel, and
information from various sources, they make budgetary recommendations and
decisions and are held accountable for the results – for the effective
performance of the responsibilities assigned to the divisions that they lead.

Budget planning is "bottom up" and recommendations are developed
initially at the unit level. At that level, the unit and the line
administrator should have a great deal of freedom to determine what kind of
recommendations they feed into the budgeting process at the next level.
Ultimately, line administrators decide what to recommend for their respective
units, provide information and support relative to their recommendations, are
responsive throughout the process, and are responsible for implementing the
final budgetary decisions of the Chancellor who is accountable to the Board of
Regents.

4. The Strategic Budgeting and Budget-Building Committee

The challenge is how to integrate these different stakeholders into one
process. While none of us would argue that we need more committees in general,
in this particular case, we believe that we do need to form a new committee.
This new committee would be more inclusive and broad-based than any one of our
current committees or governance entities. It would be a relatively small
group of individuals with senior leadership responsibilities, either
administrative or within the governance group from which they are drawn. It
would be the "keeper of the process," would ensure input from all
constituencies, and would evaluate and modify the process as experience tells
us is appropriate or desirable.

Charge:

a. Coordinate and oversee the strategic budgeting and budget-building
process by providing instructions and guidelines, timelines, advice, and
comment on unit proposals and strategies.

b. Represent the various governance entities of the University by keeping
constituencies informed, fostering dialog, and providing input to the
discussion and process.

e. Review and critique penultimate budget proposals, including the
recommendation of changes, prior to final decision-making and implementation.

f. Regularly and critically evaluate the process against strategic
budgeting and budget-building principles to recommend changes and
improvements.

Membership:

Precise membership will need to be worked out, but we would suggest the
following.

a. The Chair of the new Strategic Budgeting and Budget-Building Committee
would be a member of the University Committee. This individual will be
selected by the faculty and would also serve, ex officio if not an elected
representative, on the Faculty Senate. The term of office for this member
will be three years.

b. The Vice Chair of the new Strategic Budgeting and Budget-Building
Committee will be selected by the Academic Staff Committee from among the
UWGB academic staff. The terms of office for this member will be three years
and will be staggered with the term of the Chair.

c. The Assistant Vice Chancellor for Planning and Budget will serve on
the committee and will provide extensive guidance, direction as to
procedural/budgetary requirements, and other support to the committee.

d. The SGA President.

e. The Provost.

f. The Vice Chancellor for Business and Finance.

g. A community representative, perhaps from the Council of Trustees.

h. A member of the unrepresented classified staff.
[4]

Ideally and insofar as possible, terms would be for three years to ensure
continuity and experience on the committee.

Strategic Budgeting and Budget-Building Steps

Before outlining the strategic budgeting and budget-building steps that we
would anticipate being involved, we need to reiterate what strategic budgeting
and budget-building is and isn’t.

First, strategic budgeting and budget-building is, at the heart of it, a
planning process. But, it does not substitute for—and must not be confused
with—the ongoing substantive planning and improvement efforts of the various
units across campus. Those plans capture how people want to improve their
academic programs, student life, the workplace environment, our physical
facilities, etc. They would include the academic plan, the information
technology plan, the campus master plan, diversity plan, campus life plan, and
unit strategic plans. We want to be clear not to confuse strategic budgeting and
budget-building with the other types of planning that will, eventually, form the
texture and backdrop for the annual budget planning process. Strategic budgeting
and budget-building is crucial and effective, but it is only one piece of the
picture.

Second, as we noted earlier, strategic budgeting and budget-building is not a
neat, linear process. Those who like clear, crisp flowcharts can be driven nuts.
There are top-down guidelines for bottom-up processes and multiple interacting
units that must come together. Thus, we outline steps that recognize and allow
for the iterative nature of the process. Although we are talking here about the
strategic budgeting and budget-building process, this is where budgeting and
planning come together. Hence, the steps outlined for strategic budgeting and
budget-building also, at this point, begin to represent the same steps we will
use for strategic planning at the University level.

Third, this is not a game of Monopoly where we all get to start at
"Go." We are already well into a biennial budget process and well into
our campus budget-building process. We are halfway around the game board even as
we start this discussion. So, we anticipate that in this first year, we will be
starting the process at about Step 3.

Having said all that, these are the various steps that seem to be required:

Purpose:To provide
context and guidance for planning and budgeting at the university, division,
stakeholder, and unit levels.

Product:"Strategic
directions" identify which direction the University needs and wants to go
in. Strategic directions are relatively few in number, identify areas to
receive particular emphasis for the university as a whole, and are most likely
to be focused on a time frame of at least two or three years. One strategic
direction that has been identified by Bruce, for example, is that of
connecting with the community. Another (if funded) would be to grow
enrollments to 7500. Others could include internationalizing the undergraduate
experience, or promoting wellness, or creating 6 new nationally known centers
of excellence – whatever we decide. The point is, these strategic directions
are campuswide priorities that the whole institution will promote.

"Assessments" identify the major, relevant aspects of the
internal and external environments—what works and what doesn’t work so
well within the institution, and what special opportunities, challenges, or
threats we face on the outside. This is the traditional SWOT analysis
(strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) used for strategic
planning in general. The assessments of the internal and external environment
are short, few in number, and focused on factors most relevant to the
university-level strategic directions. For the purposes of strategic budgeting
and budget-building, we will pay special attention to the fiscal realities and
options.

"Assumptions" must also be identified. The major assumptions are
"educated guesses" that form a common framework within which the
various stakeholders and units can develop their thinking. For instance, are
we planning for growth in enrollments or for a steady state? Are we planning
on increased funding, or reductions, and of what magnitude?

Statement of strategic directions should take no more than a half page.
Assessments and assumptions should be similarly focused and concise.

Process:The Strategic
Budgeting and Budget-Building Committee will establish an iterative process
for engaging governance entities and the campus community in assessing the
internal and external environments. The Strategic Budgeting and
Budget-Building Committee will also establish an integrative process for
governance entities to participate in developing or critiquing drafts of the
University- and division-level strategic directions, assessments, and
assumptions. The Committee then recommends to the Cabinet and Chancellor,
possibly electing to include minority or divergent views. The Cabinet and
Chancellor will then adopt, perhaps after modification, a set of strategic
directions, assessments, and assumptions to be used in the subsequent steps.
These will be distributed in writing, and all information resulting from this
step will be made widely available.

Purpose:To guide
planning and budgeting at the planning level and to increase understanding,
university-wide, of the planning unit’s direction, concerns, and needs.
This is where "bottom up" planning – and, opportunities for
meaningful participation – really begins. Do note that the guidance that
is provided is broader than for the budgeting of dollars. Most of the
resources we have to allocate involve expertise and time, not dollars; the
process needs to help a unit agree upon the directions in which time and
expertise as well as dollars are best invested. At this point, the unit’s
strategic planning becomes integrally connected with its strategic budgeting
and budget-building.

Product:Same as the
university- and division-level components in type: strategic directions,
assessments of relevant internal and external factors, and assumptions are
identified. However, these are focused upon the needs, aspirations, and
priorities of the various planning units. The planning units’ aspirations
and priorities should not contradict University-level strategic directions,
and some may help advance those strategic directions. Others, however, may be
entirely independent of the University-level priorities and may concern
matters of priority primarily for the planning unit itself. (An example of
this would be the need of the Professional Program in Education to meet new
Wisconsin Department of Instruction certification requirements, effective
2004.) The unit-level strategic directions, assessments, and assumptions
should be focused, concise, and written.

Process:Each planning
unit will develop and adopt its own process, and these likely will differ
between planning units. Each planning unit will also develop the substantive
plans needed to carry out its responsibilities. For example, Business and
Finance will have a physical facilities plan, Academic Affairs will have an
academic plan and an IT plan, Advancement and Marketing will have a marketing
plan, and so forth.[6] These substantive
plans may be more long-term and general. They will inform and feed into the
University’s strategic budgeting and budget-building processes, but they are
distinct and distinguishable from the University’s strategic budgeting and
budget-building. These substantive plans will be available to all. To promote
broader understanding, they will be reviewed by the Strategic Budgeting and
Budget-Building Committee, but they are the primary responsibility of the
planning unit itself (as planning units are defined above).

The Strategic Budgeting and Budget-Building Committee will provide a common
format for reporting and submitting the planning unit’s strategic budgeting
and budget-building products. The Strategic Budgeting and Budget-Building
Committee also may provide feedback on the process adopted by planning unit if
the process seems not to be adequately serving general strategic budgeting and
budget-building principles such as those enumerated earlier in this paper. The
process adopted by the planning unit must be explicitly published (and kept
up-to-date) in a form that is available to all.

While wide unit-level latitude is desirable, the established process must
be consistent with university’s adopted strategic budgeting principles
including opportunities of wide participation by faculty, academic staff,
classified colleagues, and – as appropriate to the unit’s responsibilities
– students and external community members. The process needs to allow for
review, feedback, revision, and communication. All information resulting from
this step will be made widely available.

Step 3: Unit-Level Strategic Budgeting and Budget-Building

Purpose:This is where
inclusive "bottom up" planning in Step 2 pays off. Step 3 is
intended to bring forward to the Strategic Budgeting and Budget-Building
Committee the resource issues that are important to the planning units and
their ability to carry out their strategic plans.

Product:Proposed
budgets for the planning units, including proposed increases, reductions, or
redirections.

Process:The Strategic
Budgeting and Budget-Building Committee, drawing on the guidance of the
Planning and Budget Office, will provide instructions on the format for
submission of the proposed budget (e.g., multiple funding scenarios to be
considered, scope of resources/changes to be considered, supporting
information to be provided). The format may change from year-to-year, but
should remain consistent enough to be user-friendly. Whatever the format, in
this step the planning units must also demonstrate that their budget
recommendations are clearly and explicitly connected to the products of Step 2
and, perhaps, Step 1 (i.e., to strategic directions, assessments, and
assumptions).

The planning divisions and stakeholders will determine their own internal
process for developing their budget recommendations, and these will vary from
unit to unit. One division, for example, may involve unit directors in a
series of meetings or administrative "hearings," while another
division may use a more collaborative committee structure. Whatever variation
a division adopts, the process must be consistent with university-level
strategic budgeting and budget-building principles. Whatever process is chosen
at the division level, the lead administrator for the planning division is
responsible and accountable for deciding what "package" is brought
forward to the next step.

In times of budget reductions, the planning divisions have a special
responsibility to reach that delicate balance between the principle of
transparency and the principle of sensitivity. We can achieve this by making
publicly available the method, guiding principles, and overall objectives of
the strategic budgeting and budget-building process, but being discrete about
the particular people who might be impacted. Example: If a division is forced
to consider laying off some employees, it could openly state that its
objective is to reduce the budget by x%, and its guiding principles are
to preserve academic integrity and the quality of campus life (or safety, or
infrastructure, or material resources, or whatever). Its method could be to
use a committee structure, or to have administrative review. It would be
appropriate to state that a unit is looking at possibly as many as two
layoffs; it would not be appropriate, at this time before any decisions have
been made, to say who would be laid off. After all, at the next level, another
solution might be found. All discussion within the division’s internal
hearings or committee discussions must be strictly confidential.

The division administrator will be responsible for articulating how the
planning unit’s budget recommendations relate to the strategic directions,
assessments, and assumptions. Normally, these are public and widely available.
In times of budget reductions, however, broad public dissemination would be
delayed until decisions have been made.

Step 4: University-Level Strategic Budgeting and Budget-Building

Purpose: To construct an annual budget which is timely, accurate,
responsive to campus needs, and consistent with the University’s strategic
directions.

Product: Annual budget for the University, including budgets for the
planning divisions and units, consistent with State regulations and submitted
by State deadline.

Process:This is where
strategic planning and budgeting come together. Division and stakeholder
leaders will present the results of Steps 2 and 3, for their respective
divisions and stakeholders, in university-level budget hearings. Again, Step 2
entails the units’ developing their strategic directions, assessments, and
assumptions. Step 3 entails their developing budget proposals to support those
strategic directions, assessments, and assumptions. Together, they should form
a coherent, understandable whole.

The hearing body will include leaders of all planning divisions (to address
cross-unit impacts), Cabinet, and chair and co-chair of the Strategic
Budgeting and Budget-Building Committee. Division and stakeholder leaders may
bring in one or two others to help with their presentation and for that
portion of the hearing dealing with their presentation.

Following these hearings, the Cabinet will draft a budget plan, explicitly
showing the logical connections of the budget to the strategic directions,
assessments, and assumptions that were the result of Steps 1 and 2. This draft
will be made widely available across campus.

The Strategic Budgeting and Budget-Building Committee will review the draft
budget and provide the Chancellor with comments, concerns, or recommendations
about it. In fulfilling this responsibility, the Strategic Budgeting and
Budget-Building Committee can, as it wishes, devise means by which it seeks
consultation with and input from the governance entities represented on the
Committee.

The Chancellor will consider the advice of the Strategic Budgeting and
Budget-Building Committee, consult with Cabinet, and make revisions as deemed
necessary. The Chancellor then announces the University’s budget, including
connections to strategic directions and the internal and external assessments
with which the whole process began.

Product: A set of recommendations for improving the University’s
strategic budgeting and budget-building process in the future.

Process:Soon after the
conclusion of each strategic budgeting and budget-building process, the
Strategic Budgeting and Budget-Building Committee will debrief, identifying
what worked well and what did not work out as intended, making recommendations
for changes for the next year. These could include changes in format, process,
or content. Over the years, the process should become more user-friendly, more
effective, and more productive. In this effort, the Strategic Budgeting and
Budget-Building Committee will get input from others, as they see helpful; it
is this feedback phase that is too often overlooked—but that is critical for
any effective "learning organization."

Step 6: Analysis of Results

Purpose: To continually improve our operational effectiveness in
carrying out our mission and agreed upon strategic directions, and to
correct budgetary decisions that were not effective in producing the desired
result.

Product:

a. Objective feedback on the University’s and the planning units’
progress toward achieving their strategic directions.

c. Shared understandings to promote productive consideration and discussion
of our various successes and problems.

Process:At the
conclusion of the planning year, each budget division and planning unit will
assess its progress with respect to its strategic directions and goals. It
will prepare a concise progress report or "report card." The
University will do the same. These progress reports will be made available to
the campus community. They will then be incorporated into the next planning
and budgeting cycle.

In order to do this, each budget division and planning unit will need to
identify the critical measures or indicators by which its progress can be
measured. The logical connection between measure and goal should be clear. The
UWGB Office of Institutional Research and the UWGB Assessment Office will
assist the divisions and units in identifying reasonable measures and getting
data relative to those measures. When possible and appropriate, standard
and/or normed measures will be used. When appropriate and feasible, multiple
measures will be used to provide a better picture. (Note: Use of the term
"data" does not preclude the use of qualitative indicators when
appropriate.)

Over time, we will evolve a culture in which all university personnel have
easy access to the information they need to inform their thinking,
decision-making, and further planning. We are disturbed at the present, for
instance, by the number of times we hear people "talking past each
other" because they have no agreement or common understanding of whether
or not a certain problem even exists. This makes it hard to agree on what
needs to be done or how we should spend the valuable, scarce resources we
have. By building in this step, we’ll have an easier time agreeing what
courses of action are called for and what modifications are needed to our
operations.

Strategic Budgeting and Budget-Building Timeline

Timelines—what step is taken by what date—will be worked out as the
outlined process is piloted, improved, and agreed upon. Timelines must allow for
meaningful involvement, dialogue, and deliberation. Perhaps the timeline will
differ depending upon whether the first or the second year of a biennium is
under consideration. And, given that we are well into a biennial budget process,
we will certainly need a compressed, one-time-only, timeline for this year.
Indeed, our approach this year will likely need to be one of cutting into the
process "mid-stream," say, at Step 3, then beginning with Step 1 for
the next year.

Whatever, we will seek to "start simple," elaborating the process
where it seems to all of us to be worth the additional investment of our shared
time, energy, and expertise. As we gain more experience with this process,
additional comments, criticisms, and suggestions will be sought from members of
the University community. The process will be reviewed and refined further, if
needed, before we launch the first full-year cycle next fall. Thereafter, the
Strategic Budgeting and Budget-Building Committee will periodically review the
process and recommend further refinements as needed for this process to achieve
its full potential.

[3] Line administrators, in this process, include, at a
minimum, the heads of the planning stakeholders and the Chancellor. Within
particular planning the line administrators may develop planning processes that
involve others (e.g., program chairs) in the strategic budgeting and
budget-building roles required of line administrators.

[4] Representation of most classified colleagues is problematic as they have
exercised their right to be represented through unions and the process of
bargaining; the UW System holds that one may choose the bargaining or the
governance route but not both when it comes to seeking to influence the
direction, policies, and practices of a UW institution. In the process that
follows, classified colleagues are explicitly included in the most important
initial, "bottom up" steps.

[6] We recognize that we are mixing two separate types
of plans here: plans units have for their own unit (e.g., academic plans) and
university-wide plans that units have responsibility for developing and for
involving the campus in developing (e.g., IT plan).